Titanic’s Rose dies at 100

The actress who portrayed the older version of Kate Winslet’s character in James Cameron’s record-bursting box office smash Titanic has died in her sleep at the venerable age of 100 last Sunday, due to respiratory failure.

Gloria Frances Stuart boasted a career which spanned from the so-called ‘Golden Age’ of Hollywood – a period in cinematic history loosely dated between 1910 and 1960 – and also included a career in stage and television.

One of her most prominent films was her role as main love interest in James Whale’s Invisible Man, a classic of the science fiction genre, released in 1933.

She made a brief comeback to film in the late 80s, following a 29-year hiatus. She appeared in the Wim Wenders films Million Dollar Hotel and Land of Plenty, as well as the financially unsuccessful romantic comedy The Love Letter, starring Kate Capshaw.

Contemporary audiences, however, remember her best for her portrayal of Rose in Titanic, for which she received Oscar, Golden Globe and Screen Actors’ Guild Award nominations.

She also supposedly played matchmaker to Cameron and his current wife Suzy Amis.

“She saw our whole love happen, and it blossomed in front of her eyes. And on Jim's birthday, she called me and said, 'Suzy, it's somebody's birthday, and you need to call him,’ Amis recounted at a private party in celebration of Stuart’s 100th birthday.